The Penalties That The Humankind Is Paying For An Inferior Rule: A Perspective as a Sikh 

Plato writes in one of his greatest political philosophies, called the Republic, that ‘One of the penalties for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior. 
It could be interpreted as, ‘failing to participate or ignore current politics would endanger the masses to be ruled by those people who are inferior to them’.
I would also add, ‘Since democracy is a rule ‘by the people’,  then if people themselves refuse to recognise their right to rule, they would risk being ruled by an undemocratic ruler.
 Exercising the right to vote is not enough. We only judge the candidates by their own narrative, so we vote for the best campaign, and not necessarily the best representative. To begin with, we need to dig deeper than the face value, aim higher than selfish, fickle prizes, and think wider than the constrictions of the misled nationalism, colour distinctions, cultural quirks, or class snobbery. It’s a tall order, but doable.’  
Plato grew up in democratic Athens, yet saw through the loopholes in the republican governing system. These loopholes have unfortunately proliferated further, with many new forms of greed emerging within human society.
The concept of the ‘ruler’ in Plato’s statement applies befittingly to the contemporary parliamentarians as well, working within a system that is leaking out democratic values from the numerous cracks in its structure. This dilapidation occurred because the ‘ruled’ became complacent while the ‘ruler’ grew self-absorbed. Consequently, we are paying the ‘penalty’ of being exploited, every which way, by the inferior yet cunning ruler.
What does the inferiority of the ruler look like? To me, it’s the moral lower standards, it’s the short-sightedness, it’s the greed, and all these inferior instincts arise out of egocentrism. Immorality and avarice are twin siblings born of ego; often difficult to tell them apart. The primary attribute of an egocentric ruler is that they are manipulative and are the masters of disguise. This is my definition of an inferior ruler.  
Now, how we, the masses, receded to our present position from being potential rulers to perpetually being ruled by the ‘inferior’ standards?
The original entity of a human mind was created to be innocent, to ignore corruption, and to be nice to spread goodwill, so no one would be left behind, naive. At the same time, the human mind is also not designed to think in a single shade, hence our fascination with rainbow.
God has given us the power to choose, but wisdom to choose right comes through the labour of growing a moral sense. But not everyone opts to toil; thus, not all human beings think alike, or morally. So, over time, the terms innocence and ignorance became interchangeable, just as the trait of nicety is often mistaken for naivety.
I believe that the element of choice separated the human race into groups- The human rainbow. Subsequently, the nice and the innocent are still fighting the moral fight against the egocentric inferior ruler, while the naïve and the ignorant have conceded to be ruled.
Regardless of which shade of the rainbow an individual belongs to, we are all wired with the instinct to desire. The inferior ruler’s desire for omnipower over the world is immoral, but he is master of guise, so he sells the dream of a ‘better world’ to the naïve and the ignorant. The minimum fee to buy the basic pack of dreams is to close your eyes and sleep. Slumber is addictive, and movement is hard work. So, most of us are readily sleep walking through nine to five, or shifts, or robotic toiling to either to keep the basic membership or to upgrade the package for a better dream for even a better world than the neighbour. Thus, the vicious cycle of hopeless hope spins incessantly, while the wider world burns in the fire of greed of a few inferior rulers, who see it as a glowing light. Both the ruler and the ruled in this category are shortsighted and ignorant- the ultimate ‘penalty’ to human civilisation.
But not all is lost while those of us are fighting for the survival of the human race, even though we are in the minority today, perhaps. A fight is not always with a sword or gun; the fight of narrative is mightiest in today’s world of communication. The inferior ruler has supplied the hymn sheet of hatred for others and love for the regime to the gullible inferior-ruled to blast the social media, while the master of guile remains hidden, the naïve and the nice are kept busy fighting one another. Divide and conquer. Though it’s easier said than done, we do need to remind ourselves that it is the different colours that create one rainbow- Our beautiful rainbow.
To fight effectively against the unruly ruler, the fighters need to gain force, and for that, it’ll need nudging, shaking up, or shouting to wake up those fellow humans who are acting under the spell of immorality.  There is nothing that a collective and an effective narrative can’t achieve. Time to join our voices and fight the inferior ruler. We might need to take an interest in not just the national news, but also in what is happening in other corners of our world. Use social media to counter-narrate the fables told by the states, learn about fellow mankind with different cultural or belief affiliations, and connect beyond misguided nationalism. You shall know if you are on the right track when the pang is felt in your own heart of the pain inflicted on a fellow-fighter elsewhere.
My perspective on Plato’s statement was inspired by my understanding of the Sikh Philosophy of Miri-Piri. (I have discussed the concept at length in many previous posts. For reference.)  
Just to recap quickly, Miri means Temporal/Political power; Piri means the Spiritual authority/power. This concept was first introduced by the sixth Guru, Hargobind Singh Ji to recognise both the spiritual and the worldly authority in harmony to lead a morally rich life in a fair society. Similarly, the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh Ji, said that ‘Koi Kisse Ko Raj Na Deh Hain, Jo Leh Hain Nij Bal Te Leh Hain’, which means that no one offers anyone the authority to rule on a plate; whoever rules needs to fight for it. Let me clarify that Guru Ji is not necessarily talking about a fight with the weapon or violent struggle, but other means too, like educating fellow human beings to recognise the injustice, and inspiring them to stand up to it on moral grounds. But fight, we must.
Enough said, so this should suffice in the end, ‘Even the rose needs thorns to guard it. Let’s save the rose of peace and harmony, which is threatened today by the inferior ruler.’
Hindu Tavi is the inferior ruler that the Sikhs are fighting against. They might be fewer in numbers, but they are morally awake and formidable in their fight against tyranny. The narrative is getting bigger, and the free world is on the horizon. It’ll be the nation of equality, called Khalistan for the Sikhs; what would your free nation be like?
United we stand.

On that note, may I attach a link for the latest information on the Sikh struggle.